In October, 5.0 million passengers were recorded passing through pre-board security screening at checkpoints operated at Canada's eight largest airports. This is a 4.5% increase over October 2024 and 9.9% higher than the pre-COVID-19 pandemic level from October 2019.
International traffic rises sharply, while transborder traffic wanes
In October 2025, 1.3 million passengers were screened for international flights (outside the United States), up sharply compared with one year earlier (+12.0%). Moreover, international passenger traffic was significantly higher in October 2025 (+20.4%) than the pre-pandemic level posted in October 2019.
Conversely, transborder passenger traffic (to the United States) in October 2025 decreased year over year for the ninth consecutive month, down 8.9% to 1.2 million, and was 5.7% below the October 2019 level.
Domestic passenger traffic was 2.4 million in October 2025, 8.5% higher than in October 2024 and strongly exceeding the passenger counts recorded in October 2019 (+13.9%).
Chart 1: Number of screened passengers at the eight largest airports in Canada, monthly, 2020 to 2025
Description - Chart 1
Data table: Number of screened passengers at the eight largest airports in Canada, monthly, 2020 to 2025
Source: Table 23-10-0312-01.
Passenger traffic up at all airports
In October 2025, each of Canada's eight largest airports posted higher volumes of passenger traffic year over year. Halifax/Robert L. Stanfield International led the increases among all airports, with an 8.6% gain over October 2024.
In October 2025, seven of the eight largest airports surpassed their pre-pandemic level of screened passenger traffic from October 2019. Indeed, only Ottawa/Macdonald-Cartier International posted a lower volume (-5.1% compared with October 2019), as has been the case each month this year when compared with 2019.
Chart 2: Number of screened passengers at the eight largest airports in Canada, by sector, October, 2019 to 2025
Description - Chart 2
Data table: Number of screened passengers at the eight largest airports in Canada, by sector, October, 2019 to 2025
Source: Table 23-10-0312-01.
Chart 3: Year-over-year percentage change in monthly screened passengers, by sector, 2025
Description - Chart 3
Data table: Year-over-year percentage change in monthly screened passengers, by sector, 2025
Source: Table 23-10-0312-01.
Focus on Canada and the United States
In October 2025, transborder (to the United States) screened passengers accounted for 24.4% of the total number of screened passengers, down from 28.0% in October 2024.
Transborder traffic is concentrated at the four largest Canadian airports, which account for more than 90% of all such traffic. In October 2025, the four largest airports recorded year-over-year decreases in screened passenger counts for flights to the United States: Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International (-8.3%), Vancouver International (-7.7%), Montréal/Pierre Elliott Trudeau International (-13.3%) and Calgary International (-3.7%).
Note that screened passengers include both Canadian and non-Canadian residents.
For preliminary numbers of arrivals to Canada from the United States by air and automobile, see the release Leading indicator of international arrivals to Canada, October 2025.
For more data and insights on areas touched by the socioeconomic relationship between Canada and the United States, see the Focus on Canada and the United States webpage.
Note to readers
Data for this release are derived from the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) Boarding Pass Security System and include screened traffic at pre-board security screening checkpoints at the eight largest airports in Canada.
The eight largest airports in Canada are Halifax/Robert L. Stanfield International, Montréal/Pierre Elliott Trudeau International, Ottawa/Macdonald-Cartier International, Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International, Winnipeg/James Armstrong Richardson International, Calgary International, Edmonton International and Vancouver International.
Screened passenger traffic includes air travellers required to go through pre-board security screening and excludes aircrew and airport employees. This data series represents a different measure of traffic than the counts of enplaned or deplaned passengers published in Statistics Canada's annual Airport activity report or produced by the individual airports. For example, the screened passenger data will not account for passengers with connecting flights who did not pass through security. For more information, please refer to the "Related information" tab (Definitions, data sources and methods) for this release.
Users interested in accessing daily counts of screened traffic at Canada's major airports can obtain them from the CATSA website.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).